By the numbers

The Pratt School of Engineering includes 95 regular-rank faculty, 13 research professors, and five professors of the practice and has 1,110 undergraduates and 449 graduate students enrolled.

Highlights

Duke engineers demonstrated the first working "invisibility cloak." The cloak deflects microwave beams so they flow around a "hidden" object inside with little distortion, making it appear almost as if nothing were there at all.

Duke engineers have uncovered a missing link in scientists' understanding of the physical forces that give DNA its famous double helix shape.

Biomedical engineers have adapted a three-dimensional ultrasound scanner that might guide minimally invasive brain surgeries and provide better detection of a brain tumor’s location.

Pratt and Duke completed construction on a new regional user facility in the Fitzpatrick Center called the Shared Materials Instrumentation Facility (SMIF). The 11,400-square-foot facility features a state-of-the-art clean room, a cryogenic transmission electronic microscope, and a specialized bio-bay for biointerface and bionanomanufacturing research.

With support from Duke Student Affairs and Residential Life, Pratt added a 1,300-square-foot engineering design suite on Duke’s East Campus. Catering to freshmen engineers, the space features an integrated machine shop, teaching laboratory, and computer cluster.

Awards and recognition

More than 19 engineering faculty, including electrical and computer engineer Rebecca Willett, have won early career awards over the past eight years.

Professor Earl Dowell won the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) Walter J. and Angeline H. Crichlow Trust Prize, an award sometimes referred to as the “Nobel of Aerospace.”

Mechanical engineer Stefano Curtarolo, a specialist in condensed matter physics and theoretical materials, won an Office of Naval Research Young Investigator and a National Science Foundation CAREER Award for Young Scientists.

Electrical engineer Adrienne Stiff-Roberts, a specialist in quantum dot infrared photodetectors and hybrid nanomaterials, won the Office of Naval Research Young Investigator Award.

Electrical and computer engineer Rebecca Willett won a National Science Foundation CAREER Award for Young Scientists.

Biomedical engineer Lingchong You won a $650,000 five-year early career fellowship from the David and Lucile Packard Foundation.

Mechanical engineer Adrian Bejan won the Luikov Medal for his contributions to the field of thermal sciences.

Faculty and staff appointments

Jeffrey Scruggs, a specialist in dynamics and control of electromechanical vibratory systems, was appointed assistant professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering

Chuan-Hua Chen, a specialist in micro- and nanofluidics, was appointed assistant professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science

Brian P. Mann, a specialist in nonlinear science, was appointed assistant professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science

Major gift

The Home Depot partnered with Pratt to create “The Home Depot Smart Home,” a residential laboratory where students will live, research and develop innovative solutions for the home in areas such as security and home monitoring, communications, energy efficiency, entertainment, environment, and health. This sponsorship is valued at an estimated $2 million in cash and in-kind donations. Take a virtual tour.

Pictured at top of page: Rendering of the Home Depot Smart Home. Construction was completed in November 2007.